The Files.com Agent is an installable piece of software that allows you to integrate any supported on-premise or cloud system with Files.com.

It provides a convenient method for securely connecting remote file systems with Files.com, allowing you to push and pull files between Files.com and local file systems. Local file systems can include locally attached storage, such as local disks and drives, and network attached storage, such as file share clusters and network drives that use CIFS, SMB, and NFS.

The Agent can be used to integrate your business processes that use on-premise file storage locations with Files.com. It can allow you to use your on-premise folders as sources or destinations for FTP(S), SFTP, AS2, and WebDAV connections. You can make your on-premise folders become sources or destinations for automations and workflows. On-premise folders can become destinations for inboxes, allowing you to easily collect data. Your on-premise folders can become sources for outboxes, share links, and public hosting, allowing for data distribution to any audience. You can also push, pull, or synchronize data between your on-premise folders and other storage providers such as Amazon S3, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Storage, Google Drive, BackBlaze B2, Box, Dropbox, Microsoft Sharepoint, Microsoft OneDrive, Rackspace Cloud Files, Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage, and more.

Any attached or mounted storage that the operating system has permission to access can be used with the Agent. The Agent can only access storage locations that the underlying operating system has access to.

How the Agent Works

The Agent will connect to your Files.com site using a secure encrypted connection from the host system.

Once connected, your Files.com site will be able to connect to the Agent host as a Remote Server. The file system on the Agent host becomes part of your site's file ecosystem, allowing you to seamlessly integrate on-premise folders with your cloud-based site and its capabilities.

Setting Up the Files.com Agent

First, create a Remote Server for the Agent in your Files.com site. Download and install the Agent to the system that you want the Agent to run on.

Download, review, and update the Agent configuration file to meet your needs. The Agent configuration file can be updated prior to attempting to run the Agent.

After you've installed the Agent, and optionally updated the Agent configuration file, then you can run the Agent using the configuration file.

Once the Agent is running, you can use its Remote Server on Files.com to access local folders and integrate them with other Files.com features and capabilities. Use a Remote Mount to access local folders interactively through Files.com or use a Remote Sync to push files to, and pull files from, folders on the system that is hosting the Agent.

Creating a Remote Server

Create a new Remote Server and select Files.com Agent from the list of available remote server types.

Enter a name for this connection. This internal name is only used to reference this connection to this Agent.

Select the permissions for the Agent. These permissions will restrict Files.com to only be able to perform those actions.

Enter the full path of a root folder for the Agent. This should be a path that exists on the system that will host the Agent. The Agent will only be able to access files and folders that exist within this root folder.

After saving the configuration, a link will be provided to the download site for the Agent. Download the Agent that corresponds to your host operating system.

Download the configuration file to the system that will be hosting the Agent.

The Agent executable and the configuration file should be placed together into the same folder location.

Once saved, the Remote Server can be re-opened for further configuration.

Downloading and Installing

Download and install the Agent version that corresponds with your host system.

Running the Agent

The Files.com Agent is run from the command line. You can use a command line terminal, start it from a script, or configure your system to run it as a system service.

You should first run the Agent manually to test connectivity and functionality. Only after successfully running the Agent manually should you attempt to install it as a system service or start it from a script.

The Agent will only run on the system that it has been installed on. However, it can access network attached folders that have been mounted on the local system.

Running the Agent Manually

If you are using a Windows based system then you will need to use the Agent app EXE to run the Agent manually, The Agent MSI is only used when installing the Agent as a system service.

Once the Agent app is installed, and the configuration file is saved onto your system, use the following command to start the Agent:

files-agent start --config files_agent_config.toml

If the Agent app is not installed on your PATH then you can optionally run it by providing absolute paths to the Agent and its configuration file. For example:

C:\Users\me\files-agent start --config C:\Users\me\files_agent_config.toml

Agent Status

The Agent will connect back to Files.com to register its current status. To confirm the status of the Agent, open the Remote Server configuration page for the Agent. The following fields will show the Agent status information:

Add Remote Server Mount

Once the Agent has connected, you can use it for Remote Server Mounts.

Add Remote Server Sync

Once the Agent has connected, you can use it for Remote Syncs.